Please join us for our 2nd Annual Earth Day on the Rez on Sunday, April 23rd from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Reservoir Botanical Gardens located at 2230 Spillway Rd in Brandon, MS. Visit special Earth Day learning stations to visit as you walk along the .6 mile braille trail in the Reservoir Botanical Gardens. The braille trail has 13 stops and the visually impaired can call 601-258-7366 to get an audio tour at each of the locations or read the braille characters located at the bottom of each posted sign.
For Earth Day on the Rez, special stations have been added at many of the braille trail stops with learning activities or educational information for visitors. Please note that parking will be limited, so arranging for someone to drop off and pick up your group is encouraged.
Earth Day stations and braille trail stops include:
Community Center – Master Gardener Plant Swap – please bring a plant to swap and you can choose a new plant to take home with you.
Behind Community Center – Recycle Relay Race hosted by Rick Hollis with Pearl River Valley Supply District.
Inside Community Center – the Madison Lions Club will offer free vision screenings.
Entrance to Trail -Welcome Tables – hosted by Keep the Rez Beautiful (KRB). Volunteer groups such as the Metro Leo Club, Northwest Rankin Middle School Cougar Green Club and Boy Scouts will be providing many of the volunteers for the event.
Stop 1: Sensory Garden and Vermicomposting hosted by Nichole Kitchens with Growforth Gardens with children’s plant a seed to take home activity hosted KRB.
Stop 2: Mill Creek Slough – (located just past slough) Leaf Rubbing station hosted by Northwest Rankin Middle School Cougar Green Club
Stop 3: Fern Bog hosted by Allen Holditch with Keep the Rez Beautiful (KRB)
Stop 4: Outdoor Learning Center Pavilion will feature the Geology/Wildlife station hosted by James Starnes with MDEQ
Stop 5: History of the Gardens with children’s chalk drawing area.
Stop 6: Sasanquas and Camellias hosted by Metro Leo Club with kids coloring page activity.
Stop 7: Bird Stop hosted by Jackson Audubon Society and Wild Birds Unlimited with make a bird feeder activity hosted by Northwest Rankin Middle School Cougar Green Club
Stop 8: Geological Flood Plain with Wildlife hosted by Jonathan Leard with MDEQ
Stop 9: Devil’s walking sticks stop with children’s How Plants Protect Themselves activity
Stop 10/11: Bridge and Native Plants at the Bridge stop
Stop 12: Millcreek Overlook and Wisteria Garden – Water Quality Station and water quality experiment activity hosted by Billy Mitchell with Pearl Riverkeeper.
Stop 12: Watersheds/EnviroScape learning station hosted by Deb Veeder with Adopt A Stream Mississippi/ Mississippi Wildlife Federation.
Stop 13: Children’s Area – Children’s book reading activity and photo opportunity
